13.08.2022
A controversial foreclosure bill was signed in the Republic of Cyprus over objections from the country’s finance minister, who accused lawmakers of populism.
President Nikos Anastasiadis signed into law a foreclosure law that delays the confiscation of property for several months, a measure that drew condemnation from Finance Minister Konstantinos Petrides.
Responsible and irresponsible borrowers
Last month, Petrides, who was head of government reform before he took over the ministry, warned that the bill sent the wrong message, “mainly protecting strategic defaulters at the expense of savers and regular borrowers.”
Anastasiades initially refused to sign the foreclosure bill he took to the Supreme Court last year, while two other VAT bills this summer were also on their way to the country’s highest court after House approval.
Government spokesman Marios Pekelanos told the Cyprus News Agency on Friday that the president had submitted two VAT bills to the Supreme Court that would “drastically reduce government revenue.”
But Pelecanos told CNA that the president signed the foreclosure bill into law.
Last year, the president took the matter to the Supreme Court, which ruled this summer that a few months delay in foreclosure was a “temporary measure” and “is not unconstitutional” and urged the administration to enact the law.
The panel of judges did not mention violations of the right to freely conclude contracts or the principle of separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government.
But local economists and EU officials have raised eyebrows over the three bills, and last month Petrides lashed out at lawmakers and warned against “dangerous and rampant populism.”
Petrides warned the country needed to pass reform bills to properly deal with foreclosures, but without protecting the island’s bad debt culture, arguing that delaying foreclosures jeopardizes EU bailout funds aimed at protecting responsible homeowners who need help. in the payment of a mortgage according to certain criteria.
The issue has divided Greek Cypriot society, with some accusing people who build houses with borrowed money and never paying it back, while others accuse the big banks of harassing the little man who could be left homeless after foreclosure.
